The Ups and Downs of Parenthood

Parenthood is full of ups and downs, and this month has been no exception for us! Daniel and Lauren are at such a fun stage right now! They are walking, climbing, and discovering the world around them faster than I can blink my eyes. They are also very, very curious, which is why Lauren just about busted her head open a month ago by pulling a table over onto herself (giant gooseegg to scare mommy to the point of calling daddy home from work!).

It's also why Daniel's hand got eaten by the vacuum cleaner on Friday morning. Why, do you ask, was I vacuuming on Friday morning, at 7:00 a.m., mind you? That seems to be the first thing the nurses at the emergency room wanted to know ;-) 7:00 a.m. used to be the time of day that the floor was not yet covered in toys and other debris, and the children were all content to watch cartoons or otherwise occupy themselves while I quickly vacuumed. Ha! Not anymore! Now all they want to do is touch the vacuum, push the vacuum, pretend the cord is a necklace, and I guess even see what it is like to be a speck of dirt on the floor and travel into the vacuum. So our Friday morning started out like any other. The kids got up, had a bottle (yes, still having a bottle), and started to watch cartoons while I vacuumed. This time, however, things went horribly wrong and a few minutes later, there I was, waking Jeremy up with a loud, "Jeremy, I just vacuumed Daniel's hand!" Then he took a look and had a few choice words that I can't write on this blog. Then he was waking Sarah up with a "Sarah, it's time to get up. Put these clothes on. We've got to take Daniel to the doctor NOW." That's how we found ourselves eating popsicles in the pediatric emergency room at the hospital at 7:45 in the morning. What a way to start the day!

I would really, really, appreciate a re-do on Friday morning. Basically, I feel totally responsible for what happened to Daniel's tiny little hand, and it is really tearing me up thinking about how much pain he was in and continues to be in (hopefully not too much anymore, but it still pains me greatly to look at it, and I'm not really that squeamish of a person). Since I obviously don't get a re-do, I'll just move on, having learned my lesson. All vacuuming of the downstairs will now happen at night, after the kids are in bed, whether it disturbs their sleep or not. Better to have a few minutes of disturbed sleep than a few less fingers!

In spite of all the craziness here over the last month (Lauren's goosegg followed by colds for all three children, ear infections for the twins, allergy testing for Lauren, dentist visits for all, hand surgeon visit for Daniel (for what is, at this moment, now his 'good hand'), the worst two cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease I've ever dealt with (ok, the only two cases period I've ever dealt with), and who knows what all else, we have managed to have a lot of fun. How can you not have fun with these three cuties?




Finally, I owe a BIG thank-you to Nana, Mimi, and PawPaw. Nana saved the day last weekend by giving me back some of my sanity (I mean, it was like Mary Poppins showed up here!), and Mimi and PawPaw then came to visit this weekend and were put to work playing with and entertaining the kids so I could get some much needed errands and "to-do's" done. If the grandparents don't think I'm totally crazy by now, then I am surprised! All of this drama with the kids is making me pretty dramatic myself!